Simpson Votes to Nix Biden Administration’s ATF Pistol Brace Rule

Washington, D.C. – Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today voted in favor of H.J. Res. 44, a resolution to provide Congressional disapproval of President Biden’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) recent rule that would severely and wrongfully limit millions of law-abiding citizens’ use of stabilizing pistol braces.  Congressman Simpson also cosponsored this legislation.

Pistol braces were invented to help disabled veterans safely use firearms and have long been recognized as a legitimate right and exemption from certain taxes and regulations under the National Firearms Act.  Under the ATF’s new rule, gun owners and dealers possessing pistol braces must either destroy the braces, turn them in to the ATF, or register them as short-barreled rifles subject to fees, regulations, and additional background checks.  Failure to comply with the new rule could result in criminal fines and federal prison time for up to 10 years.

“ATF rulemaking under the Biden Administration has increasingly and inappropriately encroached upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” said Simpson.  “The ATF’s recent rule shatters precedent that even the Obama Administration’s ATF recognized—that pistol braces serve a legitimate purpose and should not be subject to heavy-handed regulation.  I will continue to stand up for law-abiding citizens’ and veterans’ Second Amendment rights and refuse to let the Biden Administration regulate the firearms industry out of existence.”

H.J. Res. 44 would both nullify ATF Rule 2021R-08 and prevent the ATF from issuing a substantially similar rule if passed by both chambers of Congress. 

H.J. Res. 44 passed in the House of Representatives on June 13, 2023, by a vote of 219-210 and awaits further action in the U.S. Senate.

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